India likely saw $10B Diwali sales amid 'boycott China'

By Cheena Kapoor

NEW DELHI, India (AA) - India might have seen a record $10 billion in sales during Diwali, a key Hindu festival celebrated on Saturday, amid an ongoing "boycott China" movement in the country, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) claimed on Sunday.

Based on its reports from 20 different cities across the country, the confederation, which represents around 70 million traders and 40,000 trade associations, said the sales have led to an expected loss of $6 billion to China.

"There was a countrywide support for our campaign to celebrate 'Hindustani Diwali' [Indian Diwali] this year by boycotting Chinese products. The traders and people of the country gave a strong & big jolt to China along with the lesson not to take India for granted," said Praveen Khandelwal, the CAIT secretary general.

This included products like fast-moving consumer goods, consumer durables, toys, electrical appliances, kitchen articles, and other gift items, the sales of which go up every Diwali.

Khandelwal said the Indian trader's network is all set to achieve its target of reducing imports from China to the tune of $15 billion by December next year.

According to the UN COMTRADE database, India’s imports from China was $68.4 billion during 2019.

"Traders across the country adopted Vocal for Local and Aatmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliance India) call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi by selling Indian goods," Khandelwal claimed.

Meanwhile, CAIT is likely to launch its e-commerce portal BharatEMarket in December to bring its traders' community online even as it continues to take on Amazon and Flipkart over their alleged malpractices in business.